1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a new hanging assembly for hanging clothes or curtains of the type comprising a rail for guiding a plurality of sliders or runners capable of closing and opening the curtain and, more particularly, the invention refers to a hanger and driving assembly for hanging a curtain and for closing and opening the curtain, the assembly being capable of being fixed either to a supporting horizontal surface, such as a roof, or to a vertical surface, such as a wall of a building.
To the purpose of the present specification the term curtain must be understood as comprising one or more lengths of clothes or hangings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known to provide hanger assemblies for clothes or curtains, having a square C-shaped rail defining an inner track along which a plurality of sliders run, the sliders being connected to the curtain so as close and open the curtain when running along the inner track or tracks of the rail. The rail generally has a square section with the opening part of the C-shape defining a slot or opening running all along a bottom side of the square section, that is looking towards the floor of the building the track along which the sliders run are defined at both sides of the slot. Each slider generally comprises a plastic body slidably fitted within the rail with a bottom surface in sliding contact with the tracks of the rail. Each slider also comprises a hanger element, such as a hook, downwardly projecting from the slider and passing outside the rail through the bottom slot of the rail, for fixing an upper edge of the curtain. Although this type of hanger assembly is widely used the same does not suitably operate as far as a friction resistance must be overcome between the slider and the track inner surface of the rail over which the slider slidably runs. This resistance is increased with the dirty, particularly room dust, collected within the rail, on the inner surfaces thereof.
To overcome the drawback related to the increased friction which frequently causes the system to be broken or the curtain dragged, other hanger systems incorporate wheels. In this type of hangers the runner includes two or four wheels rotating about respective horizontal axes and along horizontal tracks defined by inner surfaces at each side of a bottom slot of the rail. Like the slot of the type including sliders, this slot is for allowing a hanger element downwardly projecting from the runner to pass through the slot outside the rail for retaining a curtain.
The tracks for the rolling runners must be free of any irregularity or obstacles which, including dust, may cause the wheels to be taken off from or run off the tracks which, in turn, causes the runner to be blocked within the rail. This is because the wheels rest and run along the horizontal tracks under the load of the gravity plus the weight, some times very heavy, of the hangings.
In any of the above types of hanger systems, either with sliders or rolling runners, a driving mechanism is necessary to make the runners or sliders move along the inner tracks of the guiding rail. In most simple systems only one or two bars are provided for one length or two lengths of clothe respectively. The bar or bar are manually pulled on to open or close the curtain. The bar generally is fixed to a leading runner or slider while the remaining runners are fixed to the upper edge of the curtain in a uniform spaced array so as to move the curtain entirely when pulling only from the leading runner.
Another systems include a cord extending along the rail, fixed to the only one leading runner, if the curtain comprises only one length of cloth, or to the two runners moving in opposite directions, when the curtain comprises two lengths of cloth. The cord is also extended around one or two pulleys and two ends of the cord is accessible to the user to pull down from one end or from the other to respectively open or close the curtain. As stated above, when two lengths of cloth are provided the system comprises two driven leading runners moving in opposite directions towards to or away from a central section of the guiding rail.
In all the above hanger systems, however, the square C-shaped rail comprises two lateral walls, an upper wall and a bottom wall, the bottom wall including a slot running all along the length of the rail and the hanging member projecting from the slider or the runner is downwardly pending so as to extend outside the rail through the bottom slot, with the slot, or opening of the C-shaped section, formed in the bottom wall of the rail the rail must be fixed to a horizontal surface such as a roof, by engaging the upper wall of the rail against the roof and fixing the wall by screws, for example, passing through the upper wall and fixed in the roof. When the roof is not accessible to fix the rail the upper wall must be fixed against another horizontal surface provided to this purpose which implies to manufacture an additional supporting structure or to specially provide additional support members.
Also in most of the conventional hanger systems the hanging member projecting from the slider or the runner comprises generally a hook-shaped member capable of being fixed to the fabric of the curtain in several manners. In some cases the hook has a sharp end so as to pass the hook through the fabric by puncturing the fabric with the risk of damaging the curtain. In addition, since no predetermined point in the curtain are marked to insert the sharpen end of the hook is quite probable that all the hooks do not remain aligned and at the same distance from the curtain edge, this causing the curtain to be not uniformly retained. Other systems provide a plurality of rings stitched in the proximate of the upper edge of the curtain and spaced apart from each other uniformly all along the entire length of the curtain. Each ring is respectively hooked in each of the hooks of the runners these rings, however, are an obstacle when the curtain is removed from the hanger assembly and is washed in a washing machine because the cloth is damaged under the effect of the repetitive action of the rings over the fabric during the washing operation of the machine.
It would be therefore convenient to have a hanger and driving system which can be fixed onto a vertical wall, which can be easily and reliably operated to close and open the hangings, such as a curtain and which allows the hangings to be easily retained in the hanger system with retaining means by means of which the curtain can be easily removed from the hanger system and can be washed manually or in a washing machine without the risk for the curtain to be damaged by the retaining means.